Super Mario RPG Prologue
by Marie The Crocheter
Summary: How did Dyna and Mite get trapped in the mine? Why was Mallow getting a Cricket Pie in the first place? How did Gaz break his mother's lamp? This story has all my own answers to these questions, and more! Chapter 4 NOW UP!
1. Chapter 1

~Mushroom Kingdom~  
  
"But, Chancellor, why won't you let me go shop at Seaside Town? I won't be alone; Daisy's going with me!" Princess Peach Toadstool was getting angry.  
"You know why," he answered. "If that rumor that Bowser is up to no good is true, we all know that you somehow end up in the middle of it."  
"Maybe so," she answered, "But I've kinda gotten used to the idea that he's going to be kidnapping me for the rest of my life!"  
The Chancellor sighed. "I'm sorry you've gotten used to that, but still, you never know just what he's going to do with you. I get very worried about your future, Peach, and I think the only way to keep you safer is for you to live at my castle for some time, at least until the danger has passed."  
"What!" she exclaimed. "Chancellor, the danger never passes! Why, if I could, I..."  
"That is quite enough," he answered. "Princess Toadstool, you're staying with me and not going anywhere today, so we won't argue anymore. Understood?"  
"Yes, sir," she muttered. "Looks like I'm going to have to break that shopping appointment with Daisy... Can't I at least go to the Pipe House to see if Mario's there? That's not at all far from Mushroom Kingdom."  
"Oh... I do not think..." then seeing her disappointed face," I... I... suppose so."  
"Huzzah!" she answered. "I'll be back in time for supper, okay?!" and then she left.  
Once outside, she casually caught sight of an old frog with a young fluffy white thing that had a pink curlicue on his head. The old frog gave him a piece of paper and said, "Here is the shopping list, Mallow. Be sure to get everything on it and, hmm, I suppose you may get a few goodies that you want."  
"All right!" the puffball, whose name was apparently Mallow, was very excited. "All the candy the money left over will buy! Thank you, Grandpa!" Then he ran, top speed, to the store.  
Peach chuckled, remembering how many times the Chancellor had let her go to that store to buy candy when she was little. How cute, she thought, and how happy that kid looks! Sure wish I were always that happy.  
  
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~En Route to Tadpole Pond~  
Mallow Tadpole could not believe it! Grandpa had let him buy candy at the store! Honestly, Mallow thought as he headed back home to Tadpole Pond, I'm going to have to think up some special way to thank Grandpa.  
Mallow knew that his Grandpa, Frogfucius, loved eating crickets (they were like candy to him) and thought that a Cricket Pie would be just the thing to get him. However, he knew he couldn't get it as a complete surprise; a Cricket Pie was very expensive, one Rare Frog Coin, and it would take Mallow weeks to save up for one. Grandpa, however, was the designer of the Rare Frog Coin, which meant he had more than plenty of them, so Mallow would just say he needed one for a surprise he wanted to get Grandpa.  
I am such a little genius, Mallow thought to himself. I just hope Grandpa will lend me one!  
Once he got home, Mallow told Frogfucius that he wanted a Rare Frog Coin to get him a special gift. Frogfucius said yes, and then dug a Rare Frog Coin out of his trunk."There you are, Mallow, my boy. Just be sure not to lose it, okay?"  
"I won't," Mallow promised. "Thank you, Grandpa!"  
Mallow ran off on the track that led to Mushroom Kingdom, which he knew very well. On the way, he just happened to see to two Sky Troopas fighting over which one was the one that their leader, King Bowser, liked the most.  
"He likes me most," the first one said, "Because I almost beat Mario once!"  
"That may be true," the second one said, "But he said that he was gonna take that Princess personally, this time! He said, 'I'm not gonna have you cretins mess me up this time!' Hey, I wonder… He called us 'cretins'... Do you know what that means?"  
"No," his colleague answered. "Guess we oughtta find out, huh?"  
"Yeah, let's go," and they both left.  
It means a stupid creature, Mallow thought, and that perfectly describes you Sky Troopas! And then an awful thought came to his mind. Oh, no! Bowser's thinking of kidnapping Princess Toadstool again?! I feel so sorry for her! She'll never get a break from him at this rate. Wish I could do something to help, but I don't really think anyone would listen to me. Still, I wonder why King Bowser won't give up...  
Thinking these thoughts, as well as others, Mallow continued down the road.  
  
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~Bowser's Keep~  
"Alright, listen up, everybody, we, I mean... I, have a mission to do. SO SHUT UP!!!!! NOW!!!!!!"  
Bowser certainly was peaceable, wasn't he?  
His troops, no matter how loyal they were, could be very annoying with their talking. This time was no exception.  
"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
Well, they finally heeded what he was saying! All his troops, the Goombas, Sky Troopas, Terrapins, Magikoopas, and others, quit talking and turned to their leader.  
"Finally!" Bowser exclaimed. "You need to be ashamed of yourselves! You cretins aren't worthy of being Koopa Troopers until you learn to do two things- shut up and listen!!"  
"We're sorry, King Bowser!" a Terrapin said.  
"Then prove it!" Bowser continued. "I, as you know, am going to kidnap Princess Peach Toadstool..."  
"Again?" a Goomba asked. "But, Bowser, that never works..."  
"DON'T INTTERUPT ME!!!!!!!!" Bowser shouted, "That's King Bowser to you, mushroom head!! And my kidnapping will work this time! I'll take out Mario once and for all!"  
One Magikoopa whispered to another one, "Think King Bowser's getting delusions again?"  
"Probably," the other whispered back. "Mario'll beat him this time, I'm sure of it. He's probably suspecting something right now!!"  
  
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~Mario's Pad~  
"So, there'a really is'a threat, then?" Mario asked Princess Toadstool.  
"I guess so," Peach answered. "I mean, the Chancellor's always worried about something or other, usually me, so I'm more used to that now than I am to the idea that Bowser will be kidnapping me for the rest of my days!"  
"Seems like he'a will, doesn't it? What do you think might'a stop him from'a kidnapping you?"  
"I don't know. Sure wish I did, though!" She sighed. "I'll bet the only way for that to happen is for some prince to come along, sweep me off my feet, and then marry me and take me to some far away kingdom that Bowser has never heard of, thus he couldn't get there... but of course the Chancellor won't even let me think of marriage for about three or four more years!" She sighed again. "I love the Chancellor and really respect him, don't get me wrong there, but he can... well..."  
Mario grinned. "Can'a be a pain, huh?"  
"Frankly speaking, yes, he can." She laughed. "I'm so mean, aren't I?"  
"Not'a really," Mario answered. "You should have heard some of the things Luigi and I said to each other when'a we were your age! It'a was a lot worse!"  
"You two spoke badly of each other?! That's hard to imagine!"  
"Not'a for us!"  
She smiled, suddenly realizing that it was normal to get in little arguments, like she and the Chancellor did. Ever since her parents and siblings had died in a terrible plague, she knew the Chancellor was overprotective of her. She was the only member of the royal Toadstool family of Mushlandia who was left. "Thanks for your help, Mario!" Then she paused for a moment, and said, " You know, this is completely off the subject, but, I was wondering, you know how all those lovely flowers are in your yard? Well, I was wondering if you would let me pick some for the Chancellor?..."  
"Sure," he answered.  
"Thank you!" She ran outside.  
But she had only been outside a few seconds when she suddenly screeched, "Mario! HELP!!!!!!"  
Immediately wondering what was wrong, Mario rushed out and saw something that was awful, more awful than anything he had ever seen in a long time.  
He saw nothing.  
Bowser had come and snatched the Princess.  
Again.  
Mario sped off, alone, toward Bowser's Keep.  
But someone else was on his way, too...  
  
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~The Star Road~  
  
Hundreds of feet above the world, something big was happening.  
No, not "big"; "big" is an understatement. Huge is more like it. No, bigger than that, even! Something tremendous!  
Just what is happening to this place? Well, here, at the Star Road, the place that plays an integral role in assisting wishes to come true, two of the guardians saw a very ominous object. It looked vaguely like a sword. A huge sword.  
"What the...? Where did that come from?!" Guardian Number One asked.  
"I do not know," Guardian Number Two answered. "It is rather far away, I think, so I don't know if it is to be a cause for concern, but do you think, as I do, that we should warn the boss?"  
"Yeah, we should... Oh, no!! It is coming closer! It may just hit the Road!!!!" "IT'S GOING TO..... LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!"  
WHAM!!!! BOOM!!!!!!! CRAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!  
Translation?  
The sword had been much closer than they had thought. And not only did it hit the Star Road, it totally annihilated it.  
The Star Road had been destroyed.  
The Star Road had been destroyed.  
DESTROYED.  
No, Guardian Number Two thought, Not just destroyed. Mangled, pulverized, smashed, wrecked, shattered, hundreds of dreams and wishes down the drain. The pieces of the Road down on the ground, on earth, where they may never be recovered.  
"What are we to do?" a frantic Number One asked.  
"The boss is holding a meeting, so come on!" Number Five called.  
Once they got to the place where the meeting was to be held, the boss immediately told them what had to be done.  
"This is a very risky job," he said, "But one of you must do this mission: go down to the earth and retrieve the Star Pieces- the broken pieces of the Star Road. Are there any volunteers?"  
Many voices rang out, but Number Two was first.  
"Guardian Number Two," their boss said, "I chose you to go to the earth to retrieve the Star Pieces. You must leave immediately, for time is of the essence."  
"I will," Number Two answered, "You may count on me, sir!"  
"See you later, Two," Number One said. "Hope nothing else goes wrong!"  
"I would not count on it!" Two answered.  
  
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~Moleville~  
  
"Come on, Mite, I cain't wait for you all day!" Dyna the mole was getting exasperated with her baby brother.  
Mite just stared up at her, then tried to take another step, and ended up falling. But to Dyna's great surprise, and delight, he didn't break out crying.  
"Well, congratulations, Mite, ya finally learned how to not cry!"  
"Hey, Dyna!" Dyna turned to see her best friend Dettie, the daughter of "The Fireworks Guy", as everyone called him, running up to her. "Hey, Dyna!" Dettie called again, "Where ya goin'?"  
"The mine!" Dyna answered. "Wanna come?"  
"You mean your Ma and Pa let you go in the mine by yourself?!" Dettie was very surprised. "Mine don't! One o' 'em always has to go with me!"  
Dyna hesitated. "Well, Ma and Pa doan' let me go by myself, I just do! I saw this scary-lookin' fella with a purple outfit and lotsa bombs go into the mine this mornin', and I wanted to see 'im up close."  
"Oh, I saw 'im, too!" Dettie said. "Yeah, I'll go with ya, Dyna!"  
"Thank you!" Dyna answered, then they went in. Dyna strapped Mite to her back so he wouldn't slow them down.  
They hadn't been in there too long when Dyna heard a strange sound, almost like a rocket. "Huh...?"  
Dettie heard it, too. "What the...?"  
KABOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
It crashed into the mountain. A thing, a shiny, five-pointed thing.  
A star.  
The falling star caused an avalanche, an avalanche that Dettie managed to escape, but Dyna and Mite were trapped, with nowhere to go.  
"Help! Dettie!" Dyna shouted, and Mite burst into tears.  
"Dyna!" Dettie called. "Dyna, are you or Mite hurt?"  
"N-no," a frightened Dyna answered, "But we're really scared an' we're trapped! Go get my Pa! He'll know what to do!"  
"I will! Jest hang on!" With that Dettie hurried out of the mine, to inform the villagers that there were two children trapped in the mines.  
  
To be continued...  
(I'll edit the format of this one later)  



	2. Chapter 2

(For the person who had been wondering, Geno was Guardian #2. 

Now, here's the next (short) chapter, written in a hurry but I at least hope _soneone _likes it!)

****

Somewhere in Space  
Exor was hopelessly lost…

Smithy had told him the way to get to Earth, but Exor and Mack had been too busy whispering about Bowyer's funny way of talking that he had instantly forgotten what Smithy had told him. Was he supposed to turn left at Jupiter, or was it Mars?

Their plan was simple: take over the Earth. _Simple, _Exor had thought, _but what if the Earthlings have a nice welcoming committee?_

After their meeting, Exor had confronted Smithy with his fears. "Don't worry," Smithy had told him, "Just choose a dark and dreary place to station our factory and I'll do the rest."

_A dark and dreary place,_ Exor repeated to himself. _It certainly would help if I could _find_ the way to Earth…_

And, suddenly, he saw it! The blue-green-brown planet that was his target. There was only one thing standing between him and the planet: this weird little satellite that was shaped like a star. Exor ploughed right through it, though he barely felt a thing.

Once he entered the atmosphere, he searched for a dark and dreary place. _There, _he thought, looking at Bowser's Keep, _That looks good!_

BAAAAANG!!!!!!! BOOOOOOM!!!!!!

Exor landed.

The broken stars that had fallen with him also landed.  
Though he didn't see it, three figures were also thrown from Bowser's Keep…

****

Rose Town  
"Help! Help! _Help! _Mario, HEEEELLLLP!"  
"Bwa, ha, ha, ha! Save your breath, Princess! He's not coming! I made sure he was busy with the longest and most tiring plumbing job ever!!! HA HA HA! YOU'RE MINE!"

"Not so fast! Untie the princess from that lamp at once!"

"Eh? Who're you?! Why should I listen to _you?!"_

"Because if you don't, you'll be sorry!"

"Sure… TRY ME!!!!"

"Of course! Are you sure? Give up now, while you're ahead, Bowser!!"

"No way!"

"You're asking for it! SUPER STAR SHOT!!!"

CRASH!!!!!!!

"……….Uh, uh, oops…"

"Gaz!" A mushroom woman rushed into the room, and saw that her son, while playing with his toys, had knocked down a lamp. "Gaz!" she said again. "What happened here?!"

"Um, um, uh…" Gaz stuttered, "Bowser kidnapped Princess Toadstool and tied her to that lamp, and Mario wasn't there to save her. So Geno came. But, when Geno fired his special gun to get Bowser, he accidentally hit the lamp instead… What's that, Geno?" Gaz held the toy up to his ear. "Mom! Geno says he's really sorry!!"

His mother rolled her eyes. "Whatever… just get a broom and clean this up, Gaz. That will also be a few weeks out of your allowance!"

"But, Mom!!!" Gaz protested, "It wasn't me! It was Geno! He doesn't know his own strength!"

_"Clean it up, _Gaz, and I don't want to hear _any more_ about it being Geno's fault, OK?"

"OK," Gaz muttered. 

Gaz had just finished, and was just about to put his toys away, when they heard a commotion outside. "What's that? A shooting star?"

"Shooting star?" Gaz raced outside and looked up. "Oh, wow!!! Mom, you gotta come see this!!"

"Hmm?" his mother stepped outside. "Wow! That's very pretty."

"It's getting closer," and old mushroom man observed. "You don't think it could crash into the woods, could it?"

"It might," a younger man said. "Oh, look! It is! It is!"

The townspeople watched as the star crashed into the nearby Forest Maze. Gaz's mother braced herself, expecting a minor earthquake or something, but nothing came.

"Wow!! Mom, do you think that could be an alien spaceship!" Gaz was jumping up and down excitedly. "Mom! Come on! Let's check it out!"

"No way," she held him back, "It'll be dark soon, and I need to make dinner for us and the people staying here."

"Aw… hey, what's that?" Gaz pointed to a smaller object coming down from the forest.

Another mushroom man had noticed it too. "Oh, that's strange, it looks like an arrow…" he stared at it, as it came closer.

"Oh, dear, look out," his wife warned, "you don't want it to hit anyone!"

"Well, I need to chop some wood—Ooh!"

The arrow had hit the man! "Oh, it doesn't… huh?! What the—?! Oh! Help! I can't move!!"

"Eh? What happened?" Gaz asked. "Mom, do you think…"

"I think you should go in!" His mother grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him inside. "I don't know what's happening, but it's dangerous!"

Gaz watched out the window as a shower of paralyzing arrows came, hitting many of the scrambling people outside. "Whoah! Where are those arrows coming from?!"

"I have no idea," she muttered, "but, for goodness' sake, _stay inside_ until it's over with!"

"Ok… It's time to play 'Save the World' again!" Gaz ran upstairs to his room, stopping once again to look out the window. "Wow, that's so weird… I wonder who's doing that…?"

****

Forest Maze

"Bowyer, sir," a Flunky reported, "There's a town just at the edge of this forest!"

"Nya, so there is, is there not? Nya! The name if this town, what is it?"

"Rose Town, sir."

"Nya, 'sir' you will call me not! Nya… This spot is good, is it not? The town I cannot see, though… Closer we must move!"

"What do you want to do?" another Flunky asked.

"Nya, that is obvious, is it not? My aim I must practice, by shooting at this town, NYA!"

"Great idea!" A Flunky exclaimed. "Do you have enough arrows?"

"Many arrows I have, yes. Now, Flunkies, patrol the forest you must, make sure a person gets in our way must not, nya!"

It took a moment for that last command to sink in. "Oh! Patrol the forest for people! Got it!" The Flunky turned to the others. "You heard Bowyer! Let's go!"

****

Seaside Town

He looked lost.

The stranger to their town kept walking into stores, coming out much too soon to have bought anything. In fact, the village elder noticed that he was completely empty-handed. So what was he doing? Asking directions?

After the stranger came out of the health food store, the village elder himself went up to him. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

The mysterious gray mushroom man immedeately asked, "Are you the elder of this town?"

"Yes… why?"

"Ah, there you are!! I have been asking everyone in the town where you are, but no one would tell me…"

"Can I help you?" the Village Elder asked again.

"Well, uh, you, see…" the mushroom man stumbled, "I'm here to check… I mean, a survey, about… the electrical… yes, the electrical service in your area!"

"Electrical service?"

"Yes, we've been receiving complaints. Would you mind telling everyone in town to come to this shack?"

"Uh… why would you need to go into a shack?"

"I… I… I left my papers in there."

"In that shack? But it's locked…"

"Oh, you see, my assistants and I picked the lock…"

The Village Elder just stared at him. "May I… see?"

"Certainly!" The mushroom man led him to the shack, and opened it. Several other gray mushroom men were inside. The Village Elder just stared. The gray mushroom man finally pushed him in and shut the door.

"HEY! What are you doing?!" He pounded on the door.

"Oh, you are so guillible!!" the mushroom man turned around and faced the people who had come out of their houses and shops to see what was going on. "Everyone, in the shed!" he shouted. "This town now belongs to _us, _the Smithy Gang!"

"Yaridovich, you're a genius!" one of the evil gray "mushroom men" told their leader once they were done. "Posing as the Village Elder is a great idea!"

"Yes, that's why Smithy trusts me," Yaridovich gloated. "So.. we got everyone right?"

"Yes, everyone!"

"Good! Eee hee hee… Contact Smithy, please, and tell him our mission's accomplished!"  


  



	3. Chapter 3

(OK, this was a little harder; I don't want to get too much into the happenings in the game itself, as another author is working on that…

So, this is kinda short…)

Bowser's Keep (again)

"So princess, what makes you think your plumber's going to come this time?!" Bowser cackled as he tied the struggling princess to a chandelier. 

"Because he always does!" Peach answered. "Argh! Are you really _that _thick headed!?!?! Every time you kidnap me, Mario makes a total idiot out of you by defeating you and rescuing me!!! What makes you sure that _this _time will be different?!" she demanded.

"I don't know, I just do! And _DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME AN IDIOT!!!!"_

"Okay," Peach coolly answered, "You're a fool, then."

"Yes, I'm a foo… Wait a sec! Those mean the same thing!"

Princess Toadstool chuckled. "Yep! A fool, an idiot, a moron, an imbecile…" the princess rattled on more insults. 

"Shut up!" Bowser growled at her. 

"She's-a totally right!"

"Eh? Mario? Mario! You did come to rescue me!!" Peach started struggling again. "See?! I _told _you he'd come, Bowser!!"

Bowser ignored her. "So, Mario? Prepare yourself for the great beyond!"

Mario and Bowser began fighting on the chandelier. Mario won in less than 5 minutes. ^.^

"Fungahh! Foiled again!" Bowser wailed as his part of the chandelier broke and plummeted to the floor.

"Oh! Mario!" Peach called. "Untie me and let's get out of here!!"

So Mario began untying her. However…

The keep began to shake!!

An earthquake? 

Or was it something… worse??

Peach screamed. "Aah! Mario! I'm going to fall!"

They both looked up as a _HUGE_ sword fell from the sky and landed right in the keep! The impact was so great that Mario, the princess, and Bowser were thrown in totally different directions, far apart from each other, only to land… well… who _knows_ where?!

Booster Tower

"Booster, sir! We caught four new beetles on the track today, would you like to see sir?" Snifit 1 asked.

"One of them's golden," Snifit 2 added.

"Uh… what they said…" Snifit 3 chimed in, a little late.

"Golden beetle?" Booster looked through the Beetle Box they gave him. "Wow! Good job, good buddies!"

"Would you like anything else, now, Booster?" Snifit 1 asked.

"Put the beetles with the others," Booster ordered. "And get me a glass of that freshly-mashed lemon-banana juice."

"Yes, Booster, sir!" the Snifits left to carry out his commands.

Booster, who was currently on top of his huge tower a little ways from Moleville, looked out around the land, fixing his gaze on an odd thing...

Off in the direction of the Koopa Kingdom (in fact, Booster could see Bowser's Keep from where he was standing) he saw some thing falling. It looked kind of like a giant knife… a sword maybe? Whatever it was, in landed right in the middle of Bowser's Keep! — causing an earthquake large enough to shake the tower a bit.

A moment later, Booster noticed some shooting stars. One of them landed in the mine at Moleville, causing another minor earthquake, though not as strong as the first.

Booster was wondering what the heck was going on when he suddenly realized something was coming his way…

Was it a bird?

A plane?

A piece of paper?

A… Person…?

_A… Princess?! _Booster wondered. _"Wow! What's that?! WHO's that?!"_

A person, a beautiful young woman in a pink dress, came flying through the air, and landed right in Booster's lap!! "Ooh…" the girl moaned, "my head…"

_It's Princess Toadstool! _Booster thought in a panic. _Wow! She fell right in my _lap_!! This is just like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow! She's so pretty… I know! I'll marry her!!_

"Princess Toadstool!" Booster said out loud, "Welcome to Booster Tower! Will you be staying long? Oh, why do I ask?? Of course you will! I know you'll stay! Ooh, wait, I must find my beetle collection!"

"Er, that's nice…" Peach stared at the odd… _thing _that had a totem pole for a face, "But I really have to go… The chancellor…"

"But you _have _to see my beetle collection! I'll go get it!" Booster ran off and shut the door behind him. Princess Toadstool followed and tried the door. It was locked…

"Oh, no! Let me out, please!"

No answer…

Peach began to cry. "Oh! Mario! I-I hope you find me!"

Mario's Pad

Toad was anxiously waiting outside Mario's house. Mario wasn't there, neither was Peach.

Had something happened?! _Bowser couldn't have taken her _again, _could he? _Toad wondered. _Maybe they just went out for dinner or something… Princess Toadstool is safe with Mario, I know she is!_

Wasn't she?

Toad didn't have much more time to think, as something caught his eye… Flying this direction at an alarming rate…

It looked kind of like… _Mario….?!?!_

Mario, flying without a wing cap, Toad noticed, came and literally crashed into his house through the chimney. Toad rushed in.

"Mario! You know, most people enter their houses using something called a _door,_ you know!" Toad laughed. "Anyway, I'm here to pick up the Princess, as she's a little late. Uh… Mario? Wait a sec… she's not with you…?"

Mario explained that Bowser had kidnapped her, then that huge sword had come and kicked him out!

"Oh no!" Toad exclaimed. "Great, we've got to get to Mushroom Kingdom and tell the Chancellor!!"

Mushroom Kingdom (again)

Mallow had almost made it back to Mushroom Kingdom to buy his grandfather a Cricket Pie. It was close to getting dark, so he knew he'd have to hurry or stay the night in Mushroom Kingdom.

As soon as he entered the city though, someone stopped him. A blue crocodile with a bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hold it!" he told Mallow. "Where ya goin', you little shrimp?!"

"To buy my grandfather a present!" Mallow proudly answered. "He really likes Cricket Pies, so that's what I'm getting him."

The crocodile shuddered. "Ew, gross… But you must have money to do that, right? Yoink!" the croc knocked Mallow down and grabbed his Frog Coin. "That's all?! Well, it'll have to do. See ya later, loser!" The croc ran off.

"HEY!!! WAIT!!!!" Mallow shouted as he ran after the croc. "Stop him!! _Someone stop him!!!!!_ That croc stole my coin!!" Mallow didn't have much trouble keeping up with the croc, but then the croc jumped up a pathway, faster than anyone taking the stairs could go…

Mallow tried to jump after him, but couldn't. For a frog, Mallow sure couldn't jump!

"What will I do?" Mallow moaned out loud. "That croc stole my grandpa's coin!" He started to sniffle, then shook his head. "I can't cry… Big boys don't cry. But it's just _not fair… _What am I gonna do?! WAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Mallow began to cry in earnest, just as it began to rain…

A coincidence? Not really…


	4. Chapter 4

(OK, here's chapter 4, finally... Written just tonight... Once again, I don't own any of these characters, however, Yoshiko, Yoshimi, and Yoshihiro are of my own invention! Stay tuned... I might have more... and might write a "Prologue to Paper Mario" and an epilogue to this game, some time in the future! ^.^ I like doing this, hee hee...)

Nimbus Land

The woman was almost there, she just had to send her partner up first to make sure that no one else was around.

"Dodo," she whispered. "Come here please!"

No one came.

"DODO!" she whispered louder. "Come here!"

Still no answer.

"Dodo!" she said in a regular voice. "Get over here!"

Still nothing

Valentina sighed in despair, and finally yelled: "DODO, GET YOUR STUPID FEATHERY SELF OVER HERE THIS MINUTE!!!!!"

Still, he didn't come.

"DODO?! Will I have to DRAG you out from WHEREVER you are?! GET OVER HERE! Or you might not live to regret it!!!"

_Finally, _the big, fat, black bird, Dodo came. "Turn that brain of yours on, if you have one," she muttered. "Now, Dodo, get over there and tell me if any Nimbus jerks are out there!"

Dodo did as he was told, and came back shaking his head.

"No one out there? Good! Let's go up to the castle then!"

Before they entered, Valentina, the tall, evil, big-busted, purple-skinned woman with a green parrot on her head to apparently cover the fact she'd lost her all hair stared up at the castle. It had been awhile since she last came

Ever since she was young, Valentina had always dreamed of being a queen. She daydreamed what it would be like to be royalty and have people actually obeying you when you order them around! Later on, Valentina began looking into how she might single-handedly take over a kingdom. At first she considered taking over Mushlandia, but seeing King Bowser's obvious failure to be able to beat a certain plumber, Valentina thought maybe she should try a place that _wasn't_ protected by any Italian plumbers named Mario or Luigi

So, she chose Nimbus Land!

The first thing she did was get rid of the future ruler, Prince Mallow, when he was about two years old. Since the Nimbus people were all too trusting of _anyone,_ Valentina had been allowed to go and play with the little prince outside. But instead of playing, Valentina and Dodo had kidnapped him and flown off. Dodo was carrying the basket the little crying prince was in, but had accidently dropped it somewhere over the Tadpole Pond area.

Ever since, Valentina had been trying to search for the prince, wondering if he'd survived the fall or not. She couldn't find anything, but, you never know

She'd just assume he wouldn't come back.

Which would allow her plan to work just fine

Valentina and Dodo sneaked into the castle by a back entrance, trying to keep out of sight of everyone. Finally, they found their destination: the throne room!

"Um, can we help you?" Queen Nimbus asked once she caught sight of their weird-looking visitor. "Miss?"

"Oh, um, just I just wanted the chance to get to meet some wonderful royalty" Valentina stuttered, "and to, uh, become one, myself?"

"Eh?" King Nimbus looked at her confused. "What are you?"

Before the King could finish his question, a strange thing happened Through the window in the throne room, they could all see the nearby Barrel Volcano. There, in broad daylight, a very visible _thing_ shot into Barrel Volcano.

A star??

Valentina couldn't explain it, but at seeing that, she suddenly felt a HUGE rush of power, while King and Queen Nimbus felt a demise in theirs

The evil woman snapped from her daze. "Dodo! DODO! Come show King and Queen Nimbus to their new quarters!"

"New quarters?!" King Nimbus seemed shock. "What on earth are you"

"Quiet!" she snapped. "Dodo! Get over here! DODO! GET OVER HERE OR I WILL GIVE YOU A BEATING YOU WON'T SOON FORGET!!!!! _DODO!!!!!!"_

Only after those threats did Dodo FINALLY come. After the king and queen were safely locked up, Valentina stared out the window, laughing to herself. "O ho ho ho! Who wins this, eh?"

Dodo just stared

"Dodo, you are quite important for my next plan!"

Dodo was still just staring

"Dodo! Listen to me! I will tell the Nimbus people that you are Prince Mallow! I'm sure those idiots will believe it and you are to say that you want me as your queen wait a sec, you can't talk, but anyway I'LL RULE OVER NIMBUS LAND! Queen Valentina O ho ho! Nothing will stop me now!!!"

Meanwhile, King and Queen Nimbus, who were locked up in a room not that far from the throne room, had their own worries.

"Funny that that _woman_ only dared face us once that star crashed into the mountain" the King observed.

"Maybe" Queen Nimbus shrugged. "Well, all we can do is wait"

"She looks just like the woman we suspect took little Mallow, doesn't she?" The King sighed, and sat against the wall, staring at nothing in particular. "Oh If he's still out there Please let Mallow find his way home"

Barrel Volcano

"Don't need a map, eh?"

"Shut up, Black, just SHUT UP"

"It's hot! And I'm hungry!"

"You shut up too!"

"My make-up's running! BAD!"

"My head hurts"

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!"

Axem Yellow stopped to spin his ax. There were only three things he hated: being jumped on, going for an hour without food, and being lost in a volcano.

He was suffering from those last two things right now

Axem Red, their leader, stopped to face the others. "Be quiet! I know we're lost! But, blame that on the Blade, OK?! The Blade dropped us in the wrong place!"

"Where did Smithy assign us?" Axem Pink asked.

"Monstro Town. Instead that stupid hunk of metal dropped us _here"_

"Not good, dudes! I think my shades are melting!" Axem Black was blowing on them, in a vain attempt to try to save his sunglasses. "Dude! This ain't good!"

"Stop saying dude' every too seconds," Axem Green muttered.

"Okay, man!"

"That's not much better!" Green sighed in despair.

"What, man?"

"Nevermind"

Red rolled his eyes. "Continue forward, men!"

"HEY!" Pink shouted. "I'm not a"

"Ok, continue, men and"

"Shut up!" Yellow interupted. "Guys, see that?"

"I'm not a"

"I get the point!" Yellow waved Pink off, and pointed to something near the wall. "That thing it looks like a star"

"Ooh! Pretty!" Pink was all starry-eyed, literally

Red shoved her out of the way to get a better look. "Eh? This is odd Maybe we should keep it, just in case"

Pink nodded her agreement. "And if anyone tries to challenge us" The Axem Rangers began their motto

"We fight for evil!"

"We live for disorder!"

"We like what we do!"

"We struggle for chaos!"

"We are"

"THE AXEM RANGERS!"

"Undefeatable champions of evil!" Red finished. "I'll bet even that clod Mario couldn't beat us!"

Mushroom Kingdom (for the last time, I promise!!)

He'd been assigned here, this peaceful place with walking mushrooms

_Walking mushrooms? _Mack thought with a shudder. _Creepy_

Walking mushrooms, both male and female, dressed in clothes, running their own kingdom

_Too weird!!_

Not like Mack was any more normal, though He was a weapon. A sword. Smaller and weaker than his friend and fellow gang member, Exor, but still worth reckoning with.

Naturually, these Mushroom Mutants' eyed him suspiciously while he bounced up to their castle, but, hey, no one stopped him so why bother?

Taking over the castle was easy Everyone ran in fear the moment they saw Mack and his Shysters. Brave people _I wish every city we broke into was this easy to take over!_

Once in the castle, Mack and his Shysters simply hung around the throne room, with this shooting star they'd found.

"It's pretty!" a Shyster exclaimed. "Good décor, right?"

"Yeah," Mack agreed. "Geez, where is everyone?! They won't even be here for the takeover party I was going to hold"

The Chancellor, who had just seen Mario off a little earlier, cowered in the corner. "Oh, no," he muttered, "I hope Mario comes and gets rid of these awful things—soon!"

Yo'ster Isle

"GO, YOSHI! BEAT THAT OL' BOSHI!" 

"No way! He can't beat Oops, never mind"

"I lost again?! ARGH!" Boshi the blue Yoshi banged his head against a tree. "I used to be so good"

"Need practice," Yoshi scoffed. "Tell me when you want a rematch!"

"I wanna race too!" 

"Me too!"

"Sure, you guys can," Yoshi told his friends Yoshiko and Yoshihiro, "Winner takes all! Hee hee hee"

"Cookies?" Yoshiko eagerly asked.

"Well, sure"

"I have a better idea!" Boshi sneered. "Why don't we set EVERYTHING on this race!!"

"Boshi, what do you"

"WHOEVER WINS GETS TO CONTROL THE RACES! Until they get beaten!"

"Fair, I think," Yoshi agreed. "Yoshiko? Yoshihiro?"

"Sure!"

"Why not?"

"Ok, good," Boshi grinned evilly, let's start the races Who will act as announcer?"

"I will!" A young female Yoshi, Yoshimi, piped up.

"OK! Then, you tell us when"

"Ready, set GO! And the four are off! Yoshi's in the lead, Boshi in second with Yoshiko Oops, now Yoshihiro, in third Now Boshi's in fir No, Yoshi Wow! This'll be close And the winner is BOSHI! By about a half a second!"

Yoshi gasped. "Good race what do you win.?"

"Heh, simple. ONE ON ONE RACES FROM NOW ON!"

"WHAT?!" Yoshi exclaimed. "Boshi! That's not fair!"

"So beat me again," Boshi taunted.

Yoshi tried, and tried but he couldn't

"Don't feel bad," Yoshihiro tried to console him. "It's no big deal"

"Yes it is!" Yoshi moaned. "I wish I could run faster"


End file.
